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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 19 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 great guide and indispensable tool! Oct 07, 2008
By Jonathan Greenlee
Not only are the five walks described interesting and easy to follow, but the addresses of the major sites are printed in the book in Chinese characters so the book can be shown to Taxi Drivers or others when you need assistance! You will want to carry this book with you everywhere. And there are pages for you to take your own notes.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Frommer and Fodor have No Need to Worry... Nov 15, 2008
By Erica J. Dymond
I'm used to Fodor and Frommer Guides. I've found them invaluable in my travels. They are petite, have sturdy pages, and contain clear color-rich visuals. Name the city, I can toss one in my handbag and hit the street ... knowing that "expertise" is stationed right next to my lip-balm. "Walk Beijing" disregards everything that these reputable, established publishers have created.
The text is HUGE. Clearly, it's not meant to be carried around the city ... even though it contains maps and directions. I'm not talking thick, I'm talking TALL AND WIDE. What were they thinking??! Moreover, this text doesn't have the vibrant glossy pages that entice one to travel to out-of-the way spots ... the paper is thin, matte, and easy-to-tear (think: coarse coloring-book style). The illustrations (of dancing bears!) and the photos are grainy and dull. Such a disappointment.
For a the same price, grab Frommer's Beijing or Fodor's Beijing. They are sturdy and time-tested. Not to mention that this text is specifically focused on the 2008 Summer Olympics ... which are long over. (I don't just mean that it has some references to the Olympics, the THEME is THE OLYMPICS).
Bottom-line: It may be cute (I'll grant them that), but when I'm paying four-grand for a trip, I don't want a cutesy, low-quality guide. I want a serious, time-tested, colorful, high-end guide (which is weirdly the same price as this "cheap" one).
EXCELLENT Sep 06, 2009
By Jose Olmedo
I find the book concise, well written and easy to understand. I think anyone thinking of going to Beijing should have this guide.
 Easy to Find Your Way Around Beijing Feb 26, 2009
By Christine Zibas
"AnythngArt"
This bright and cheery little guide is the perfect companion for the first time visitor to Beijing. With Westerners facing the unique challenge of an unfamiliar language, "Walk Beijing" is the ideal assistant to allow tourists to guide themselves through its streets, enjoying the sites, sounds, and life of Beijing at street level.
Although the book may at first appear childlike, its value is soon apparent, with pictorial guides, translations into pinyin (an English version of the spoken Chinese), and practical information on communications, money, transportation, and cultural differences.
Designed primarily for the influx of 2008 Olympic visitors, this guide will work in any year. It sets up five different day-long exploration walks in different parts of the city, including rest spots and dining options along the way. It also provides a deeper look into the city of Beijing, highlighting important historical sites, shopping areas, gardens, and theaters, while avoiding the obvious tourist sites, like the Forbidden City, that are covered by every other guidebook around.
Its small practical size means that it can be taken along the walk of the day, giving directions (with accompanying pictured signposts for more confusing locations), and basic Chinese characters to assist walkers along the way when they need to ask for help. There's plenty of space in the book to record additional information, like the location of a tourist hotel, or notes about the traveler's adventures.
In spite of missing pages in my book, I still consider this an invaluable addition to finding my way around Beijing. Any traveler would!
Tells You Where to Go But Never Why to Go There Nov 09, 2008
By Labarum
This book does in a sense deliver on its promise as it includes some nice walks in Beijing. The only problem is that if you are not that famiilar with the city already you may not be sure why the sights pointed out are worth seeing. The lack of color photos and the generally grainy typesetting of the book gives it the appearance of being printed from an old mimeograph machine in a computer age. It's good for what it does, but a better presentation and more professional production could have made this a lot better.
See all 19 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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